{"product_id":"rarissime-et-etonnante-piaget-militaire-automatique-en-acier-circa-1945-sjnv","title":"Extremely Rare and Astonishing Piaget “Military” Automatic in Steel, circa 1945","description":"Founded in 1874 in La Côte-aux-Fées by Georges-Édouard Piaget, the house first built itself over nearly seventy years as a discreet supplier of movements to the greatest watchmaking houses, before registering its name as a brand in 1943. It was not until the 9P (1957) and 12P (1960) calibers that Piaget became the absolute benchmark of ultra-thin watchmaking. In the meantime, during a little-known transitional period, the house offered models that nothing in its later history would have suggested – such as this piece, atypical on four counts: a military-style steel case, an automatic bumper movement, a black radium dial, and the “Piaget \u0026amp; Co” signature on the bridge (normally reserved for gold pieces and coin watches, according to Piaget Heritage).\nThe 32 mm case is of so-called “Clamshell” construction (Swiss patent no. 189190, filed by Schmitz Frères in 1936 and popularised by Gallet), with four oblique screws compressing caseback and bezel, in Staybrite steel. The automatic movement, most likely a Felsa 282 caliber according to the Piaget Heritage restoration watchmaker, has been fully serviced by one of our experienced watchmakers and runs very well. To document this off-catalogue piece, we consulted Mr. Alain Borgeaud, Head of Heritage at Piaget, who found among the old parts stock three dials identical to ours.\nThe original dial displays a magnificent “tropical” patina, the deep black having turned to a warm, shimmering brown and the radium of both numerals and hands caramelised into a patinated orange. A rare opportunity for the discerning Piaget collector to seize a little-known page in the house’s history, a world away from the gold, diamonds and stone dials of the 1960s and 1970s.","brand":"Piaget","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54863776874819,"sku":"SJNV","price":7350.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/1378\/9763\/files\/SJNV-Rarissime-et-etonnante-Piaget-Militaire-Automatique-en-acier-circa-1945-Front-1.jpg?v=1791200762","url":"https:\/\/amplitudewatches.co\/en\/products\/extremely-rare-and-astonishing-piaget-military-automatic-in-steel-circa-1945-sjnv","provider":"Amplitude","version":"1.0","type":"link"}